Goodnight, Brat
by aych13
Summary: An angsty, very vulnerable interaction between Levi and Eren. I piggy-backed this story off another author's fanfic in which Levi has Eren start sleeping with him instead of in the dungeon because of Eren's nightmares. (I don't sexually ship Eren and Levi because of the age difference, but I do like Levi in a protective caregiver/mentor role; may be too cheesy for many; LMK.)


_Eren was burning hot. This must be hell, he thought as he desperately looked around him, seeing nothing but a blood-red, pulsating substance in every direction. Then he looked down and saw that he was surrounded by bodies. Heads. Limbs. Floating around, on top of, and over each other, bobbing slowly in the small waves of red fluid. The titan's stomach…he was inside the titan's stomach, but he wasn't dead. The odor was unbearable, and the heat was like breathing inside an oven. "Mother?" he heard a weak, plaintive voice cry out. "Mother, help me…it's so hot…mother…" Eren watched in horror as the profile of a young girl called out into the void, then slowly sank out of site beneath the fluid's surface. Suddenly from above him he heard the agonized screams of his own mother's voice; he watched in horror as her body, broken in half, came tumbling down toward the mass of other bodies floating in the titan's stomach. "Mom!" Eren screamed out in agony, reaching his arms out to catch her….only to see that his arm was a mere stump. "Eren!" his mother wailed, her voice betraying her agony. Eren!..."_

Eren gasped out loud and sat up with a jolt, tears streaming down his face and trying desperately to catch his breath. A dream….well, it had happened like that, but he wasn't back there again. This time it was a dream.

Eren's eyes darted frantically around the room, trying to remember where he was. A sudden burst of light illuminated the darkness as a lamp was lit; through a haze, Eren saw Levi shake out the match, then turn to look at him, quietly appraising the situation. _Oh yeah,_ Eren remembered, _I'm in Levi's room. I sleep in here now, because I told him about how much I have nightmares and he said he wanted to keep a closer eye on me._ He realized Levi was looking at him with some caution because he was waiting to see if Eren was going to turn into a titan. Right as that thought occurred, another—and to Eren, far worse—realization hit him. Sharply drawing in breath, Eren felt the sheet underneath him, then felt his pants. His heart squeezed into a painful, agonized rock and his blood turned to ice with humiliation as he realized that during the nightmare he had wet the bed.

"Eren." Levi said softly, his low voice somewhat cautious. "Talk to me. What's going on?"

_No no no no noooooo_, Eren thought desperately, cowering away from Levi and hiding his face in his hands. He was so mortified he was paralyzed; he contemplated everything from pulling the blanket over his head until Levi went away to just jumping up and making a mad dash for the door and never coming back.

"Hey," Levi said again. "I need you to at least shake your head. Are you completely awake?" Face still buried in his hands, Eren nodded. "Are you going to turn into a titan?" Eren flinched even further away from Levi and emphatically shook his head no.

Levi nodded curtly. "Okay, now we're getting somewhere."

When Eren didn't reply, Levi sighed deeply. "Brat, will you stop cringing away from me please, you're making me feel like an asshole." When Eren still didn't answer and remained in a closed off, trembling ball, Levi reached over and forcefully removed Eren's hands from his face. "Hey," he said firmly, leaning over so Eren would have a harder time avoiding his gaze. Eren forced himself to briefly glance at Levi; his perpetually bored expression was the same as ever, but his eyes were surprisingly soft. "_Listen_. I know you pissed yourself,"—Eren grimaced in shame and turned his head away again, squeezing his eyes shut. Levi sighed wearily. "Kid, will you give me some credit? I've seen pretty much everything at this point…it's _fine_. I knew you had nightmares; that's why I told you to sleep in here. I know sometimes this just comes with that; it's not your fault, and I'm not gonna yell at you or get mad at you."

Very hesitantly Eren opened his eyes and tentatively met Levi's gaze again. Levi's tone was soft now and matched his expression; it surprised Eren enough that he actually held Levi's gaze for a moment. Taking advantage of that, Levi gently ruffled his hair and muttered in his quiet deadpan, "I told them I'd kill you if you went out of control and attacked people; I don't remember saying I'd kill you for getting scared and wetting the bed."

Before Eren could respond, Levi got out of bed and rummaged around in a drawer for a moment; he emerged with a towel and more clothes. Walking around to Eren's side of the bed, he pulled the covers off him and took his arm. "C'mon, brat. Let's get you cleaned up," he said in a gentler tone than Eren had ever heard from him before. Without the covers to hide behind, Eren's face burned with shame and he couldn't bring himself to meet Levi's eyes. Nevertheless, he allowed himself to be led into the adjoining bathroom; he stood frozen just inside the door, his eyes glued to the floor as Levi lit some lamps and started to run him a bath.

Once the tub was full, Levi turned back to Eren, who hadn't moved from his spot by the door, his head bowed down so his chin was almost on his chest, anxiously wringing his hands and picking at his skin. Levi sighed again; he could see the boy was so mortified that he was essentially catatonic, not to mention just coping with the aftermath of the nightmare itself. Making a deliberate effort to further soften his usually abrasive tone and expression, Levi instructed, "Eren. Use the toilet, then give me your clothes and get in the bath." A blank, somewhat confused expression crossed Eren's face; he glanced up at Levi for the barest space of an instant. "You still have to go more," Levi quietly prompted him, his eyes and his voice gentle. "You weren't done when it woke you up; that's not how pissing yourself works."

Eren dropped his head again and flushed an even deeper red; tears formed at the corners of his eyes. Levi took Eren's arm and steered him in the direction of the toilet. "Finish using the bathroom, then give me your clothes and get in the tub," Levi repeated softly.

Once he was relatively confident Eren understood the instructions, Levi left the bathroom to allow him at least some privacy; he crossed the room and began to change the wet sheets on the bed. At times like this Levi wished he had more of Erwin's gift for toning down his normal standoffishness; he genuinely wasn't upset with Eren, but he didn't really know how to make himself less intimidating. Which was somewhat unfortunate, because this type of thing was honestly a big component of the job of being captain, if one that was less commonly talked about: the soldiers all showed their stress and trauma in different ways and needed Levi's support. And Eren was just a kid…Levi had seen far worse stress reactions from full-grown men.

Once he got the bed remade, Levi picked up the wet sheets and made his way back to the bathroom. Eren was sitting in the tub when Levi came in, his chin on his knees while he stared blankly ahead of him. Levi wordlessly gathered up Eren's wet clothes from the floor; bringing them over to the sink he rinsed and wrung them out, then did the same with the sheets before placing them all in the laundry basket. He carried that out of the bathroom and put it outside the bedroom door to be collected in the morning.

Eren hadn't moved when Levi reentered the bathroom; his face was completely blank but when Levi looked closely he saw that Eren was shivering. Levi sighed and crouched down next to the tub so he was eye-level with Eren. He put his fingers in the water to test the temperature; it had gotten fairly cold. "Hey," he murmured softly, "C'mon kiddo, you don't need hypothermia on top of everything else. Here—" Levi grabbed the towel off the countertop and took Eren's elbow, encouraging him to stand up. Eren hesitated, shame once again paralyzing him. He risked a quick glance up at Levi's face however, and was a little taken aback at how understanding his eyes were; Levi just looked, if anything, sad. Eren slowly let out his breath and allowed himself to be raised to his feet; Levi helped him balance as he stepped out of the tub, then handed him the towel so he could dry off. "Here, these should fit you," Levi said quietly, handing Eren a t-shirt and plain black pants. "Get dressed, then come to bed." Eren nodded, staring resolutely at the floor; Levi paused for a moment in front of him as though about to say something else, but then simply sighed again and left Eren to it.

Eren slowly finished drying off and took his time getting dressed, steeling himself. He honestly wanted to just run away and never let Levi see him again. At the same time though he felt incredibly vulnerable and somewhat intrigued by how kindly Levi was treating him; it wasn't what he had expected at all. But then again neither had he expected this initial arrangement of sleeping in here in the first place; Levi had responded to his nightmares with more understanding and compassion than Eren had previously seen from him, so the events tonight just continued in the same vein.

When he could think of no more reasons to stall, Eren slowly reentered the bedroom. Levi was sitting in the bed, looking over some papers he'd had on the table the previous evening. When he heard Eren approach, he placed them back on the table and wordlessly gazed up at Eren, his usual unreadable and rather detached expression on his face. Eren found it nearly impossible to maintain eye contact with him for longer than a second or two, because that expression made him feel like Levi was seeing right through him. He paused a foot or two from the bed, staring at the floor and fumbling with the towel just for something to do with his hands. "Um…sir…I'm really, _really_ sorry. And….thank you. And…well….I'm just _really_ sorry for causing you so much trouble."

The silence stretched on, and Eren could feel Levi's quietly appraising eyes on him. Just when he thought he could stand the silence no longer, Levi said gently, "Eren."

He shot a quick glance up to Levi's face again, biting his lip with anxiety. Levi sighed, tilting his head slightly and letting his shoulders drop as he gazed at Eren; Eren could see the compassion in his eyes and it made his legs feel weak. "Would you stop acting terrified of me and come here already?" Levi instructed quietly, patting the mattress next to him.

Hesitantly, Eren crawled onto the bed, stopping a couple feet away from Levi and curling his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms protectively around himself. Levi let out an exasperated sigh, then without warning reached over and wrapped his arms around Eren's back and knees, physically lifting him onto his lap and then leaning them both back against the headboard so Eren's head was against his shoulder. Eren squeaked in surprise and tensed his body, his heart hammering in his ears. Levi began gently rubbing his back. "Shhh, calm down," he whispered. He kept one arm securely around Eren's body while he massaged Eren's shoulders with the other; as taken aback as Eren had initially been, it felt wonderful and as he grew accustomed to Levi's touch, his heart rate and breathing slowed to a more normal rhythm. "That's the way, just relax," Levi instructed softly.

With a deep sigh, Eren closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to lean into Levi's shoulder, snuggling his body in against his chest. The comforting warmth reminded Eren of his mom, and he bit his lip to keep the tears back as his nightmare flashed through his mind. Levi could feel Eren's shoulders quivering; laying his own head back against the headboard, he quietly gazed down at Eren through his narrow, brooding eyes and gently ran his fingers through Eren's hair. Eren tucked his chin to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut; he covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a sob. From above his head, he heard Levi's soft, calming voice. "Eren…tell me."

Barely holding back tears, Eren managed to choke out the gist of the dream he'd been having. As he listened, Levi wrapped his arms around Eren more tightly and gently rocked him. It had taken everything Eren had to get the words out, and as he finished he collapsed into tears. "I'm s—s—sorry, sir," Eren managed through his sobs. Levi continued to stroke his hair, cradling Eren's head against his chest. "No titles right now, Eren," he murmured softly. "And you have nothing to apologize for; cry as much as you need to."

He continued to hold the sobbing mess that was Eren for a long time; he didn't say anything else because it wasn't needed. Levi knew from his own experience that words didn't mean as much as physical contact when the pain was this deep. His heart ached for Eren as it did for himself; why did they live in a world where so many of them had lost their parents in such horrific ways? In light of that it seemed that any reaction up to and including complete loss of sanity was entirely justifiable. Levi leaned back and stared out the window at the stars as he felt Eren's muscles gradually relax and his breathing slow as he cried himself to sleep in Levi's arms.

Once he was completely asleep, Levi carefully picked him up and laid him down on the pillow right next to Levi, gently covering him with a blanket. He lay down on his side facing Eren so he could watch him sleep, bracing his head on one hand while he stroked Eren's forehead with the other. At last he quietly leaned over and softly kissed Eren's head. "Night, brat," he whispered, a small, affectionate smile touching his lips.


End file.
